


The Course of Love

by Hanzohara



Category: BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: Awkward Flirting, F/F, First Dates, Kaoru is a train wreck when it gets down to it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-24
Updated: 2018-10-24
Packaged: 2019-08-07 04:11:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16401074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hanzohara/pseuds/Hanzohara
Summary: It never did run smoothly, did it?





	The Course of Love

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all! This was a requested prompt from twitter user @kanonlovemail !!!! Thank you for givin' me a prompt!!!
> 
> [ kaotomo first date? any scenario ngl ]
> 
> I hope this is good enough (ﾉ･ｪ･)ﾉ I'm tentatively taking prompts, maybe hit me up @HaraHanzo !

The course of love never did run smooth.

An awkward thing to say you live by for sure, but hey. There were worse things to live by than vague references to the difficulty of love, sure, but perhaps basing the motto for one’s life about love in general is a shaky move at best. And on the grounds that love is meant to be turbulent? But if one is being honest, did they really expect much else from eccentric thespian number one Seta Kaoru? But they were words she lived by nonetheless, for better or worse, and they always seemed to turn up true.

Like now for example. She is running late. So very, very late. With less grace than she would have liked, scarlet eyes fall to her wrist, raising it just so that she’s able to read the time through the glare of the sun.

[ 12:47 ]

That’s over fifteen minutes late.

She understands that, for all her charms she has with girls at the school, even she will be damn lucky if her partner hasn’t left by now. Rounding the corner, Kaoru can see her destination up ahead, several blocks forward hangs the sign of a small soup shop she went by every now and again, flashy red and yellow aesthetic a pleasant sight that works to alleviate her worries for all of about three seconds. Three wonderful seconds, but just that. Three seconds.

Before she reaffirms for the nth time that afternoon of her intent, and the butterflies return in full force. A far from smooth course of action.

Kaoru recalls, as she quickens her stride, to early yesterday morning before classes had begun. Nothing largely out of the ordinary in her opinion. In fact, it was a far better morning than most, able to meet up with a couple of the theater group before everyone made their way to classes. There was positive feedback tossed all around, and it had served to brighten her mood, which fed directly into the conversations she had with some of the lovely little kittens that had approached her in the courtyard. Lovely little things to be sure, one with her hair done up in a pretty little bun that she couldn’t help but comment on, one that was meant with an adorable blush. And that had certainly riled the other couple up as well… ah, how fleeting it was to have the attention of such darling girls.

In retrospect, it was probably how well she had spoken with those girls beforehand that had spurned in her a sense of confidence unrivaled. It felt, for a moment, that she had been on cloud nine, as though she were on stage, and all the spotlights of the world were upon her. She could certainly feel the gazes of the girls trained upon her as she bid them ‘adieu~’ at the sight of brilliant red hair.

It had been with a flourish that Kaoru had approached, seeing not the usual entourage at her side, but only the white haired one, Moca as she had overheard shortly before calling out in greeting. As expected, Tomoe had offered her a kind smile, given her the usual measure of respect in her greeting and waved Moca off. So unusual a thing in her heart, the feeling of it fluttering at such a day-to-day greeting; so this was the feeling so many of her kittens experienced! It was truly a fleeting thing, gone as soon as it came in the onset of her earlier confidence.

The offer to go out somewhere tomorrow afternoon had been met with a subtle raise of brows, and for a moment Kaoru’s heart sank in expectation. But that brief fluttering returned full force when Tomoe had laughed something bright and nodded, saying she’d be more than happy to.

So in a way, it was something Tomoe was looking forward to. And yet here Kaoru was. Over a quarter of an hour late. How dreadfully unbecoming of her.

She enters the restaurant in a rush, red eyes wide and immediately looking for hair that would match. She feels a familiar drop in her chest when it isn’t seen immediately, and it must be clear to the man at the front, the younger man with dirty-blonde hair done up in a ponytail she notes, who cuts mid greeting and asks with concern. Kaoru is pretty much a weekly regular after all.

She makes to approach, greets the man with something of a forced smile when there, out the corner of her eye she sees stunning red making its way across the floor.

Ah, she had just been in the bathroom… she hadn’t left.

She… she hadn’t left!

Elation flares up in her heart, and she looks to the barista with newfound life, smiling widely and giving him a reinvigorated greeting before turning on heel and bee-lining for Tomoe. She’s almost to her when the other girl takes a seat at a table toward the back, near enough to one of the windows. A nice choice of location, far enough away from other patrons and from any future ones that would come in later.

Kaoru goes to voice as much, gently placing her hand over Tomoe’s shoulder to get her attention. The reaction is immediate, head turning sharply to look with so intense a gaze that for a moment Kaoru falters. Though in the second she sees Kaoru, Tomoe’s gaze drops several levels, and in its place is a certain reserved fondness, offering the upperclassman a gentle smile.

“Kaoru. I’m glad you could make it.”

A hand awkwardly comes to rub at her neck as Kaoru slides forward to sit opposite of Tomoe, hanging the coat she wore on the back of the chair. There’s an untouched glass of water on this side of the table, and Kaoru voices a quick thanks before taking a sip from it.

“I’m terribly sorry for my tardiness… it seems as though the Gods themselves sought to keep me from you, but I am driven individual and as the Great bard says, it is not the stars that holds destiny but ourselves. And I have so decided that my destiny is to be here, with you my dear!”

By the end of it, Kaoru almost feels breathless. Too much talking perhaps? The way Tomoe regards with a flare of confusion in her eyes makes that earlier smidge of confidence ebb away slowly, and she hastily goes in to clarify.

“Aha, that is to say, well I very dearly wished to be here, and the bard’s words are… aha, well you know…”

Silence again for a second before confusion gives way to a twinkle of amusement in those eye, so stunning a shade of blue they border on sea green. Something Kaoru could so easily get lost in, as cliche as she knows it to be.

“Heh, I can’t say I do. Theater’s never really been my thing, y’know? Always been hard understanding some of the stuff those old dudes say...” She pauses to take a sip of her own drink, some kind of soda it looks like. “But hey, the fact you can understand them and all? Even use ‘em in common conversation? I may not understand it, but I can respect you for being able to use it.” With a decisive nod, she gives the other girl a smile.

Kaoru can only stare, shakily bringing up the glass of water to her lips to try and mask the fact that she is unabashedly staring. It’s probably the first time she’s said spoken like that, and the other person doesn’t question it. Hell, on the contrary: she says she respects it.

She continues on though, as though she hasn’t just flattered Kaoru in the highest way possible, tipping back what remains of her soda and straightening out the menu before her.

“You know, I really appreciate you inviting me out here. I don’t often get to go out- no including my time with Afterglow, this time of year. With clubs picking up and a mix of rehearsals and festival practice needing my attention most weekends, that is. Not that I don’t love the band and all but it’s refreshing to spend some time with people outside of that group. If you don’t mind my asking though, what brought it up?”

Perhaps it’s about time she contribute something to this one-sided conversation. With a resounding clink of the glass to the table, Kaoru straightens her posture, calling up what remains of the courage from yesterday. There are no kittens from which she can draw that confidence, only the even, pleasant gaze of the very object, unknowingly, of her affection. Butterflies rise up from their place in her stomach, to her chest and even to her throat that makes her words catch amidst their flurry.

No, she needs to do this. If nothing else, at least ensure that Tomoe knows how she feels, how she views this outing ( a date, not just a meeting between friends, between senpai and kohai and so on ). Were it literally almost any other girl at the academy she would have been far more in her element. After all, she knows well there are very few at the school who do not idolize her, and she’s aware of how they all vie for her attention. The way the two girls had watched with wide eyes as she approached Tomoe of all people, and probably had shimmied close enough to be able to eavesdrop.

“Aha… well you see…” Still, she needs to gather the thoughts moving a mile a minute in her head, so she glances to the menu at Tomoe’s hands and gestures for it. “Perhaps we should order our food first. I’ve certainly made you wait long enough, hm dear?”

Tomoe looks as though she wants to refute the statement, a crease in her brow and a sudden frown on her lips. Before she can speak up though, Kaoru glances about and catches the eye of a waitress, waving her over.

“What will you have, Tomoe?”

Tomoe gives her an sideways glance as she turns to the waitress, offering a small smile to the girl.

“If I could take that uh, Pork and Soy Ramen, I’d appreciate it.” She’s given a small smile in response, a nod of the head as she writes down the order and then turns to Kaoru.

“Mmm, make that two actually. If you would be so kind kitten.” She gives the girl a charming smile as she walks away to go place the order. Every little bit of confidence would help, especially when Kaoru turns her gaze back to Tomoe and is met with a determined gaze. Again lost in that sea of blue-green until Tomoe tilts her head to the side, clearing her throat discretely and raising her newly refilled soda.

“You were saying, Kaoru?”

Ah. Yes. The actual… confession so to speak. Kaoru gives Tomoe a fond smile, gaze soft upon her as though it might lessen the impact, might help convey what she feels. One hand raises so her chin can rest upon her hand, staring ever more so at Tomoe with a longing stare.

“Ah… I confess that part of the reason I was late is because I was… building myself up to it, so to speak, my dear.”

“Building up to it? Aha… you know you don’t really need to worry around me right? I’m not gonna… I don’t know? Out you for not being as princely as you usually are? Or whatever it is you’re worried about…”

“Well you see uh…” Kaoru ponders for a moment, taking a breath and cradling her hands together, and laying them against the table. She’s often heard these stories from the girls in passing in the hallways, talking about how their dream confession includes them and their other beneath a sakura tree, or something of that light. Somewhere highly romantic, and they would confess and be welcomed with open arms and go riding off into the sunset. Ah what a prospect… if only it were so easy.

Kaoru honestly has some newfound respect for all the lovely girls who have come up to her professing their love ( however superficial and momentary it was ). If her dear kittens could do so, and survive the ambiguous responses she gave that were certainly not a yes, but at the same time not an explicit no, she could at least do so.

“I respect you a good deal, Tomoe. Though it may seem a fleeting thing, no sooner had I looked upon you, had I fallen to a place I could not escape. No sooner had I come to know you, come to respect you even more as a fellow musician, as a classmate and nowadays am I blessed to say as a friend I have found myself yearning for more…”

Tomoe’s expression is unreadable now, and perhaps that is in no small part due to the fact that Kaoru is blatantly looking everywhere but the redhead’s eyes. In spite of herself, and the numerous times Chisato has scorned her for the habit, her nails begin to pick at the skin of her fingertips, and to an extent her nails. How bothersome, she’ll have to file them anew when she returns home. For now though, she has to focus on the conversation… and she finds herself only slightly wishing that the waitress would return in the midst of it to interrupt her.

“I… can’t ask you to return the feelings,” It hurts to say but she’s got to be realistic here. Reasonably, if Tomoe were to like anyone, or take a chance liking someone, wouldn’t it be someone from that friend group of hers, and not the flirty lady-killer she met through band competition? “But I would only ask that you consider them… and to not hold them against me in the future…”

Silence still, and Kaoru almost considers looking up to gauge Tomoe’s reaction when the waitress picks a far less opportune moment to arrive. She’s just as cheery as when she left… perhaps oblivious to the shift in mood? Or maybe Kaoru is just misreading it and making it out to be worse than it is. Either way she hesitated, glancing up to the waitress and giving as good a smile she can force, until she turns and her eyes fall back to look at her soup. Her hands are still clenched, still picking and pressing ugly crescents into her fingers which is so far and wide unbecoming of her usual nature but she can’t help it.

And even still, there are no words from Tomoe, so Kaoru can only imagine what sort of horrible line she’s crossed.

“Aha… perhaps I should have kept quiet- hm?”

Her voice is a far cry from earlier, when she had confidence burning a fire into her veins and she had been intent on confessing. It’s not necessarily weak, but nowhere near as strong. Even cutting off in surprise when she feels a tentative touch upon her hands that shocks her into stillness is a weak response. Her gaze snaps up to meet Tomoe’s and it’s not near as disgusted or mocking as she may have thought for a moment that it would. ( in the back of her head, she wonders why she would ever have thought that? It’s an insult to Tomoe herself. )

Blue-green regards her gently, and there is the beginnings of a smile just as gentle on her lips. The hands over hers are more firm now that she’s met Tomoe’s gaze, fingers linking with her own. Immediately she can feel they are tougher than her own, at least in the lower joints, almost callused, and perhaps that should be surprising. Where Kaoru’s own are rough at the fingertips where she plucks at guitar strings, Tomoe must have a firm hold on the drumsticks she uses. Even so, they still have a soft attribute to them that gets her to still her own hands. Tomoe’s fingers clasp tighter over her other hand, almost as though shielding them from the hand she had been picking with. The smile is fond enough, welcoming enough that Kaoru can’t help but return the sentiment with a shaky smile of her own, a brief squeeze over Tomoe’s hands that is returned quickly.

“Haha… you know Kaoru, I was kind of surprised when you invited me out here to be honest. I mean, sure we talk here and there and all, but I never thought I meant as much to you as you did to me.” That makes Kaoru’s eyes widen, and a larger smile break out over her lips.

“Oh, but you do, you mean so much to me… I suppose a fair bit of my interest came from first impressions but… well, aha… there was the misunderstanding with Saya, and just how impassioned you were. It inspired me so to speak…”

If the low chuckle that comes from Tomoe is any indicator, is just as fond a memory, although there is a blush Kaoru thinks is from embarrassment that gets brought up as well.

“You uh, you said earlier that you couldn’t ask me to return your feelings, but would it be too much of me to say that I would absolutely want to pursue something like that? I can’t say that I feel as strongly for you as I think you do for me but… I think in time I will. I would be lying if I said I love you but… I do like you, and I think given enough time I would absolutely fall for you.’

That… that means so much more to Kaoru than Tomoe could ever imagine, and the sheer feeling of freedom in her heart, freedom from the stress and anxiety she had been imposing on herself. It’s glorious. Her hands move with newfound purpose, turning over Tomoe’s and clasping them as though they were a lifeline.

“Absolutely not. You could ask of me my heart and I would give it to you with little qualms!” She immediately backtracks though, seeing the error in her speech. Her grip loosens ever so slightly and she bashfully turns her gaze back down toward the soup. “Aha… that is, if you begin to feel the same… not anytime soon at least… it’s best not to rush these things of course!”

And Tomoe’s smile is fond, patient as she’s always been, gently tapping at Kaoru’s hands.

“With time, I’m sure. I think a second date is in order if we’re gonna’ hit the ground running, huh? And I’m gonna have to introduce you to the rest of Afterglow…”

“Ah, well… before we get there.” What was it Misaki said? Everything in moderation… perhaps it wasn’t always a bad thing to take things at a slower pace. “Perhaps we should get through our first one?” Tomoe pauses, before breaking out into a bright laughter, something that tugs at Kaoru’s heartstrings in the best way she’s felt.

“Haha, look at me, getting ahead of myself huh? You’re absolutely right. We got plenty of soup to talk over, yeah!”

Kaoru can only smile, unwillingly withdrawing her hands from their mess of clasped hands so she can busy them with her soup. 

“Yeah… plenty.”


End file.
